Moses Lake Youth Hockey Winter Classic begins on Friday
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Keegan Stickel was part of the Moses Lake under-10 hockey team that won the first-ever Washington state youth hockey state championship. Sickel and Moses Lake U12 team will be playing in the Winter Classic this weekend
MOSES LAKE — It’s not exactly a line in the sand, more like a blue line on the ice. But the Moses Lake Coyotes under-12 team, coming off the program’s first-ever Washington state youth hockey state championship as 10-year-olds, will defend the home ice this weekend when some of the best Peewee youth hockey teams in the Pacific Northwest converge on Moses Lake for the three-day Winter Classic, beginning Friday at the Larsen Activity Center hockey rink.
The Moses Lake Youth Hockey Association U12 Rep A2 tournament gets underway on Friday with the Coyotes taking on the Sno-Kings from Seattle in the 5:30 p.m. game. The Everett Jr. Silvertips vs. Portland Jr. Winterhawks (7 p.m.) and Coyotes vs. Tacoma Rockets (8:30 p.m.) will follow on the first day of action.
“A couple of the teams are A-teams that play at a higher level, so it says a lot that they are coming,” Moses Lake Youth Hockey Association president Ty Howard said. “Last year, I think if you would have invited these teams to come to Moses Lake to a tournament they would have laughed.
“Obviously after (winning a U10 state championship), they’re taking us pretty seriously now.”
Lakeview Elementary School fourth-grader Keegan Stickel banged home the winning shot to give the Coyotes their first-ever Washington state youth hockey state championship last year at the U10 gold division state festival.
The Coyote winger moves up an age group with the guys, along with Jackson Hammond (forward), Vinny Rodriguez (defense), Owen Bergstrom (defense) and the rest will take the ice in the tournament that concludes on Sunday.
“During the opening ceremonies, we’re going to honor the U10 team that won the state championship last year. Mayor (Karen) Liebrecht is going to be there,” Howard said. “It should be a good weekend of hockey.”
Visit https://www.mlyha.net/ for schedule and results.
Saturday
8:30 a.m. - Everett Jr. Silvertips vs. Seattle Sno-Kings
10 a.m. - Tacoma Rockets vs. Portland Jr. Winterhawks
12:30 p.m. - Moses Lake Coyotes vs. Everett Jr. Silvertips
2 p.m. - Seattle Sno-Kings vs. Tacoma Rockets
3:30 p.m. - Moses Lake Coyotes vs Portland Jr. Winterhawks
7 p.m. - Fourth place vs. fifth place
Sunday
8 a.m. - Second place vs. Third place
9:30 a.m. - First place vs. winner of fourth-fifth place
12:30 p.m. - Winner of second-third vs. winner of first-four-five